To See Him Cry
by buddyBatmanWW
Summary: During a battle, the Justice League  is sent back to the past, where they meet Bruce's parents and re witness the trauma again
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**

The characters in my story are **not** owned by me. They are the property of **DC comics and Warner Bros. **I just used them for the story which is completely a product of my own imagination.

**Chap 1**

"Why are we standing here?" Flash asked. It was the question in all our minds, but he dared to ask.

"I don't know!" he said. I couldn't make out his intention from the tone of his voice. We have been sent back in time, with no means to get out of it. Jonn had explored every possible way, even tried inflating our own worm hole. But it didn't work out.

I looked at his face. Without mask, it was supposed to look perfectly normal. He was Bruce Wayne. He had been Bruce Wayne and he has been with his PARENTS! The only thing, he couldn't tell them! For them and their five month old son BRUCE WAYNE, he was Bruce McGill, from Scotland Yard. Alfred's British accent did stick to him, after all, and he was perfectly able to pick the accent of an American working in London for the last 10 years.

-  
>As we walked aimlessly, we saw a man being attacked by a group of goons near the Gotham General. Bruce jumped into action and so did all of us, just that we fought like normal people, not the Justice League. Just as Bruce prevented a hefty man from landing his crowbar on his rich victim, his eyes met the victim's face! I've never seen Bruce caught so off guard, the crow bar landed right on the back of his head. He crashed onto the floor. Diana and I ran to the rescue, but by that time, the man had taken him into his arms and called out for his car. The man was visibly shivering. The goons had fled. The police arrived and caught one of them. Everything was going on like a skit, like it was planned. I saw a cop with Orange colored hair who went to this man to check if he was alright. The hospital staff, who were till then spectators, came forward and helped Bruce into one of the stretcher beds. Realizing we were to react, we approached the man who looked rather concerned. As he turned his eyes towards us, I had a feeling I had seen him somewhere. His features, his mustache,...there was something about them.<p>

When he realized that we were concerned, he apologized. Then came his car and a spick-and-spack driver stepped out of it. Alfred!

-

"Would you like some more cookies?" she asked, sweetly.

"No th...", I was interrupted by Flash "Yes, why not! These are the most wonderful cookies I ever tasted!"

We glared at him. The lady smiled. "Please don't be hard on your friend! I am happy I finally have someone compliment my cookies. Alfred, can you please get them more!"

"Right away madam!"

She continued "I made them myself. Bruce loves this flavour!"

"Bruce! I didn't know Bruce loved cookies! Uh oh!" Flash knew what he had just said. The fact that we didn't withdraw made it even worse for him

"Anything wrong, sir?" Mr. Wayne asked.

"I almost forgot...my mom said not to eat at strangers' ". Ah, he just couldn't have done any better!

"Pardon him, sir! He acts a bit eccentric at times." Hawk Girl said, slapping Flash's hand.

"Good that you have your elder sister to check you, sir!" Mr. Wayne winced. "Are you comfortable, ?"

Bruce, who was till then burried in thoughts over his cup of tea came back to senses and looked around as if he didn't know where the sound came from.

"I think the affects of concussion are still there" he said, getting up and coming around Bruce's chair. I could see him feel uncomfortable, I guess so could Mrs Wayne! He was about to check Bruce's pulse.

"Tom, why don't you give him a break from your therapies? We all know you are a great doctor!"

Bruce realized he had to take over "No problem, ma'am! I'm sorry if you've got the wrong signal, but my face is such, I cannot help it!"

Thomas Wayne laughed "Tell me about it! You know what, your features, they look so familiar. Your eyes, your jaw, have I seen you somewhere?"

Bruce tried to remain calm. He tried to speak, but all he could do was shake his head in dismissal.

"Pardon my husband, Mr. McGill. He can get inquisitive at times! Tom! will you please..." her expression was suggestive, Mr. Wayne withdrew, but with one last remark "You really intrigue me, sir!"

Alfred came in, bringing more cookies and a word for Mrs. Wayne

"Master Bruce is awake, madam!"

"Oh, I'll be right there, Alfred! Please excuse me, it's my son!"

Of course!

to be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer**

The characters in my story are **not** owned by me. They are the property of **DC comics and Warner Bros. **I just used them for the story which is completely a product of my own imagination.

**Chap 2**

_Bruce was trying so hard to hide his feelings that anyone could read them on his face. That last remark almost brought tears into his eyes, and to say the truth, in all of our eyes. His only subterfuge to not to look up was his pot of tea which he never seemed to finish_

"Oh, so you have a son!" Diana asked trying to shift the focus of off Bruce.

"Yeah! He is my pride and joy, our pride and joy! His name is Bruce too!" saying that, he turned to Bruce, "What a phenomenal coincidence!"

Bruce's silence was only making it difficult for them. None of us understood what Thomas Wayne wanted to hear from him

"My father served in the New York Police Department, sir! Bruce is the name of his best friend. My father told me that he was perhaps the bravest of men, willing to give up his life for his fellow human beings and for his country. He was the world's greatest detective, and was hard on criminals, but never believed in taking a life. He shunned the lime light, and was only worried about his work. My father wanted me to become a great man like him. That's why the name."

Bruce started off tensed but as he unfolded the story, he seemed at ease. Of course we all knew that he was describing himself, not any friend of his father! We in the league always had reverence for him for these qualities, but I never thought he was so positive about himself. I was tempted to laugh to see him beat his own drum, but yes, everything he said was true to the word.

But Thomas Wayne exploded the scene with his next question. "What is your father's name?"

"John McGill", Bruce replied calmly. Thomas Wayne's features changed as though the name rang a bell, "You mean, the John McGill! I read a lot about him in the news papers. He was like a hero of his times. The crime rate was close to zero in New York when he was the commissioner"

"Yes, sir! The same John McGill". I saw that Bruce had done some homework brooding over his tea. He was completely confident about his answer. "Sir, but I request you to keep this a secret. I am a secret agent, I really shouldn't have told you but I thought I owed it to you after all that you have done for me. After my father's death, no one ever heard if another McGill again, since my mother and I were living in London while he was here. He did not let anyone come close to his personal life and as a secret agent, it is an obligation for me to follow my father's path. I'd prefer if you'd dropped this here, or I might even have to be forced to remove this information from your brain, forcefully! Believe me, that is not a good experienced to have your brain washed!"

We were stunned at Bruce's answer. He had not only averted any other possible questions elegantly, but also had justified his silence and discomfort which were raising speculations in Thomas Wayne's mind. And most importantly, he did that with what can be called the force of a real secret govt agent, but we knew it was Batman style.

"I am extremely sorry, sir! I really didn't mean to get into your professional space. Rest assured, your secret is safe with me, as it is with the rest of your friends!"

"Bruce! I think you were a little too hard on our generous host." Diana protested, "you can't talk to everyone like you talk to me!"

Bruce could only throw a cold glance. He was not ready for this.

"You know what, we really didn't ask you who you are!" Mrs. Wayne exclaimed bringing the little Bruce in the baby chair. He had a bib in his mouth, his eyes were moist suggesting that he cried for his mother. For one second, everyone was lost in admiration for perhaps the most beautiful baby boy on earth! He looked at all of us in a circle and suddenly chuckled. We couldn't help smiling.

Thomas Wayne tried to offer an explanation for her last remark, but Diana took over and went on introducing us all.

"I am Diana Kent, and this is..." she pointed towards me.

"Your brother, I presume!" Thomas Wayne interrupted.

"Oh please do carry on. Tom loves to play detective at times!"

I must admit, no one ever thought of looking at us like siblings before! Bruce must've been happy at this.

"You were right, sir! He is my elder brother, Clarke Kent. We live in Smallville, farming."

"Oh, no wonder he looks so tough" Thomas was exclaimed.

"And she is Shayera, Shayera West and her little brother, Wally West. They live in Central City."

"I am not little..." Flash protested. Others laughed. It was like they had agreed upon their roles. I preferred to remain silent.

"And this is John Stuart, he is a soldier! He is Shayera's fiance". Both of them blushed at this remark. I could only awe at the ease with which Diana was making it up . "And this is Jonn Jones, archeologist, a friend of our father!"

Martha Wayne seemed to be convinced with the explanation, but from what I could gather, Thomas Wayne was speculating about whether or not to put the next obvious question, how we were related and what we were doing in Gotham.

Diana put him at ease.

"Clark, Shayera and I went to the same school in Central city."

That covered how four of us were related, may be even five.

"Shayera worked as a military doctor, and she met John during the war."

6 down, one to go! I knew this was the toughest, as Bruce was a secret agent from a different continent.

" And as for Bruce, he doesn't want me to tell!" she cleanly escaped! The pressure was on Bruce now. She smirked.

"I guess you two are..." this time it was Martha Wayne and her expression was suggestive.

"I don't have time for relationships", Bruce protested in a typical Batman style.

"She never mentioned relationship", Diana crossed. The Waynes were satisfied, looked at each other and smiled. Little Bruce, who was till then observing everything around him wide eyed suddenly began to chuckle and clap with joy!

to be continued. This is a new experiment I am performing with these characters. Do leave comments so that I know whether to go on with it


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer**

The characters in my story are **not** owned by me. They are the property of **DC comics and Warner Bros. **I just used them for the story which is completely a product of my own imagination.

**Chap 3**

We all were tempted but Diana was the first to ask.

"Oh, such a sweet baby! Can I hold him?"

Thomas and Martha wayne looked at each other and smiled. Bruce, I mean the little Bruce was holding his bib with his fingers and between his gums. It was as though he was teasing us. The big Bruce cracked a smile once a while, looking at himself in the baby chair. I don't know if he ever wondered how he was, like a child.

"Well of course, yes!" Alfred handed him to her.

"Ah, how precious!" I could see tears rolling in her eyes. I wondered how she felt at that moment. She might've actually wanted to hold this baby's son, as a mother! When that thought crossed my mind,I felt a little awkward, so I preferred to let it go!

"Hi ya baby, what's your name?" Flash said impulsively. "Is it Bruce?"

The big Bruce threw one angry look at him, but Flash didn't pay attention. He was enjoying watching the kid, we all were, so much that we forgot he is actually with us.

The baby Bruce nodded and chuckled. He pointed his finger towards Flash and tried to mumble something "Fff...ff...u...sshhh, Fush!" saying that, he chuckled again.

Now that was really strange. We understood he actually was trying to say Flash! I looked at Mr. Wayne, but he didn't seem to be surprised at all!

"I am sorry ! Bruce has a friend, named Frank. He is 5 years old and has a red hair, like you. He must've mistaken you for him. He calls him Fush, I don't know why!" he smiled.

That really came to us as a relief.

Little Bruce repeatedly called Fush and was jumping excitedly in Diana's lap. It was hard to control him.

"He really is a fast learner!" I said "Boys usually don't start speaking till they're over one year old!"

This statement brought about fatherly pride in Thomas Wayne's eyes "He sure is a special kid, Mr. Kent! He has an unusually hard head, and he's already trying to stand up. I think he'll be something really big in the future!"

Bruce's phone rang, I mean the Big Bruce's phone. Clearly it was Bruce who switched on his ringtone. It was becoming harder and harder for him every second. "Pardon me," he said and walked out of the house!

"Wow! Is that a phone, without wires?" Thomas Wayne exclaimed.

We realised the big blunder, the mobile phones were not present at that time. Wonder how Bruce missed this!

"I never understood how that worked, sir! It is a secure line, his communication with his fellow secret agents!" Diana said. She sounded very natural.

"Oh! I thought the technology is still in the experimentation stage."

"Well I don't know how they get their hands onto these gadgets." She sighed, looking outside where Bruce was standing, pretending to talk. Diana was a real help!

"If you don't mind me asking, when are you two going to tie a knot?" Martha Wayne enquired.

"I don't know", Diana sighed, "you've heard him. He says he doesn't have time for relationships. He has got issues and his work is too important."

"Does he love you at all?"

"Yes, he loves me, more than his life! But...may be not more than his work!"

"But I see you love him more thank anything else in the world"

"This world and any other world! But I respect his ideals, I don't want to get between him and his work. I don't want to be his weakness. I want to stand by his side and give him strength. I hope that he will understand, someday!" Diana was framing her lines perfectly. In fact, they were coming straight from her heart, after all, she was complaining to none other than his parents. The little Bruce was keenly observing the conversation with his thumb in his mouth and eyes fixed on Diana. Perhaps he found the connection, it is hard to say.

"Will you wait for him forever?"

"Yes!" tears began to roll in Diana's eyes. Martha Wayne was a little worried, she had struct the wrong chord. Thomas Wayne began to get up to console her. Alfred searched for a box of tissues.

Little Bruce took out his thumb from his mouth and wiped her eyes with his little moist fingers. He shook his head as though he was suggesting her not to cry, and suddenly burst out into a chuckle and began to jump in her lap again. The whole scene, which was till then grim, became light and everyone laughed, we through our tears! It was like little Bruce would do anything to stop Diana from crying. He even tried to stand up on his tiny legs and give her a peck. Diana laughed at his efforts and brought him close to her face and he could finally give her a peck. She gave him a peck too and hugged him. Our hearts filled!

The room filled with the sound of his chuckle.

Just then, big Bruce walked in.

to be continued...please tell what you feel about this!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer**

The characters in my story are **not** owned by me. They are the property of **DC comics and Warner Bros. **I just used them for the story which is completely a product of my own imagination.

**Chap 4**

"John, can you please come out for a while?" Bruce said. GL wanted to ask why, but decided it'd be better to follow him out. He did so.

Awkward silence prevailed for a while.

"I hope it's not serious!" Thomas Wayne said.

Alfred, who was till then silent, but forth the one question troubling him till then.

"Sir, sorry for my interruption, but I have had an experience, which was not something I have everyday!" Alfred was trying to put it as politely as possible.

"What is it, Alfred?" Thomas Wayne inquired.

"I was by the side of when he regained conscious. He seemed all dazed but when he looked at me, he said 'Alfred! Ah, what happened? What am I doing here?' But then I felt he noticed something and quickly apologized." Alfred looked at us for an answer.

"I don't think it is unusual, Alfred" this time it was Jonn, the Archeologist, "He has a butler named Alfred too. He had a concussion, so when he woke up, he must've thought that he is in his home." Fair enough, I thought.

The sound of a slap drew our attention. Apparently little Bruce had slapped Wally's hand.

"Ouch!" Wally mocked. That would be the last thing to cause him any pain. Bruce chuckled joyfully.

"Bruce! Why are you hitting Fush like that?" Thomas Wayne mocked anger. Little Bruce brought all the baby charm he could into his eyes and tried to offer an explanation, all he could do was make up some faces and say 'Fush...fush...fush'. When he realized it was not working, he looked at me for help. That was a strange feeling. It was as if he knew me. Flash had been making faces at Bruce for sometime now, and I was watching. He was extending his arms towards me and pulling my collar and pointing at flash. He was almost going to break into a cry, seeing he couldn't justify his actions.

I took him into my arms and tried comforting him "I know it Bruce, Fush is a bad boy. Diana will hit him real hard, don't worry!" tears were already wetting his cheeks by that time. So, Diana immediately slapped Flash's hand, for real!

"Ouch! That really hurt!" Flash burst out. We all laughed, except for little Bruce. He extended his arms towards Flash. Flash mocked anger, but Bruce wouldn't give up. He was jumping in my lap and going uncontrollable. Flash immediately took him from me.

"Yes, Mister! What do you want to do now?" Flash said, still mocking anger.

He put his little hand on Flash's arm and started rubbing it, as if to ease the pain. And then he started to comfort Flash just the way I tried to comfort him, but with baby words and gestures. All I could understand was he offered to slap Diana!

That was too touching, even for Flash. Tears rolled in his eyes "You are one brave man, Brucy! No point denying that!"

Just then, John and Bruce entered. "I think we should get going." John said.

"Oh, won't you stay for dinner, sir?" Thomas Wayne asked, disappointed.

"I'm sorry sir, but duty calls. And its about time the others resume their journey to Metropolis, for the world fair", Bruce said

Now that was one thing we didn't explain, the reason for our coming to Gotham.

"You're not coming with us!" Diana exclaimed.

"Duty calls, Diana. I am sorry. I'll try to be back, for the weekend." He said, laying his arm on her shoulder. The responses were only going natural, as Diana turned her face away, hiding her emotions.

"It was a pleasure staying here, sir!" Bruce extended his hand for a felt giddy all of a sudden, lost control and almost fell on Thomas wayne. He held Bruce just at the right time for an accidental hug.

"You really should be resting, sir! You're not completely recovered yet. But as you said, duty first" shook his hand."I am only sorry you had to leave so soon without having a meal with us. All the Best for your mission, sir! And take care!"

Bruce found it hard to break the handshake. He was holding his father's hand, after a long time. But he had to.

"Um, Mr. McGill! Next time I would want to see you two together, along with a baby, like my Bruce. Please believe me, you cannot get a better person into your life!" Martha Wayne smiled.

Bruce couldn't speak. He knew she'd never see him again and he's never see her, them! I found the need to speak. "Sure, Mrs. Wayne! I'll make sure it happens!"

"Now that's one strong and loving brother!" Thomas Wayne smiled, "I'd look out for him if I were you, !"

Bruce managed to smile. The little Bruce, as though he understood the situation, smiled at his counterpart and began to wave his hand "Bye! Puce!". The he turned to all of us in turns "Bye, Kak! Bye Fush, bye Jo', Bye Shra" and finally turned to Diana "Bye, picess"

He actually meant princess!

"She is not the Princess, Bruce" Martha wayne exclaimed "She is Diana!"

Bruce was adamant. He pointed at Diana and retorted "Pincess!"

"Sorry, he hears a lot of stories about kings and queens and beautiful princesses. He doesn't even sleep without a princess story. You are so beautiful, he took you for the Princess!" Thomas Wayne remarked.

"No problem, sir!" she said, looking at the big Bruce at the corner of her eye.

"Good night, sir! And thank you for your hospitality!" I shook their hands and picked Bruce's cheek for one last time. Everyone spoke their final words and cuddled bruce for one last time, and with a heavy heart, bade him good bye!

As we left, the Wayne's saw us to the door. And when we were at a sufficient distance away, they turned back to go inside, and as they did, I could hear Thomas Wayne say "Strange! I've only seen that man once and I feel that I've known him for ages. When I hugged him, I felt...some connection, like I was hugging our Bruce!"

"Perhaps he and we do have some connection. Seeing him, I always felt that Bruce would grow up to be like him, you know, the same blue eyes."

"And that chin...more like our family line!"

"Not to mention the jaws!"

I couldn't hear anymore! We were far far away, in both space and time. As I look back at it, Bruce was actually talking to an agency to hire a time travel port for us! At least that was the way I wanted to look at it.

to be contd...


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer**

The characters in my story are **not** owned by me. They are the property of **DC comics and Warner Bros. **I just used them for the story which is completely a product of my own imagination.

**Chap 5**

"What are we doing here?" Flash asked.

Yes, we are back to where it all started.

"This is where we should be" Bruce muttered. He was still lost in thought.

"But this is Crime Alley", I said, "why didn't you just zap us to our time?"

"It wasn't me, it was him" he said. I could sense he was controlling a burst of emotion coming through.

"So, what's the plan?" Diana inquired.

"We wait!" he looked up in the sky, "we wait!"

I always hated his imprecise statements. But this time, I didn't want to provoke him. He was already hiding his face from the others. He was crying...

Few minutes later, we could see three shadows and hear the jubilant voice of a kid.

"Beware of my mighty sword!"

Oh,my God! We were back to the same fateful night which turned around Bruce's life forever. It was Thomas and Martha Wayne, with the young Bruce, coming back from "The mask of the Zorro"

I looked at him. He was silent, his eyes fixed on the three, his fist clenched.

"Bruce! Do we..." He understood what I was trying to say.

"No," he whispered, "we wait!"

The others didn't know what was going on. I was the only person who knew so much about Bruce. He didn't share his secret, even with Diana.

"Clarke, what happens..." Even before she could complete the sentence, a figure stepped out from darkness.

"Oh, god! He has a gun in his hand. Let's stop him!" Flash shouted. Only we could hear him.

"No, we won't! We shouldn't. It will change the history!" I didn't know if it was Bruce or someone else in his body. He was standing like a statue. I knew what was going to happen, so did he. A chill ran through my spine, and I shuddered.

The dark figure demanded for money and pointed his gun towards the young Bruce. Thomas Wayne persuaded, his purse fell, the robber wanted the pearl necklace and ...

For the first time in my life, I thought Batman's crusade for vengeance in his initial days, his methods, his coldness towards humanity and law was justified. The others were horrified, Diana went pale and looked at Bruce for expression.

Bruce stood still. He wasn't breathing. His fingers went nimble and cold. One couldn't justify he was alive, if it wasn't for his heartbeat...

and his tears,...

streaming down his eyes, wetting his collar and flowing down to his shirt.

The little Bruce was picking up the pearls and trying to put them in his mother's hands, the blood stained pearls. He wasn't crying. He wasn't sure.

He didn't know!

...

Soon after the incident, Chronos appeared, satisfied with what he's done, he zapped us back to our time, our watch tower.

We were all in our Super hero costumes, Shayera got his wings back.

Bruce was Batman.

Diana held his arm. Now she knew the story.

"Batman!" she said softly. He didn't respond.

"Bruce!", she placed her hand on his cheek. It was moist. "Bruce!" she repeated.

He shivered...

He collapsed on his knees. Diana held him.

He looked into her eyes.

He buried his head into her chest

And he cried!

This is not the Batman. This is the 8 year old Bruce Wayne, who forgot to cry!

Now he knows...and now he remembers...

Diana could only hold him closer

And we could only see him cry!

...


End file.
